U.S. tax laws contain 59 specific provisions that could make married people pay more than singles who earn the same salaries, according to a new study for Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
However, many of those "marriage penalties" can also become "marriage bonuses" - meaning married people may pay less than singles with the same incomes - depending on the salary ranges of the people involved.That complex situation found in a study by the U.S. General Accounting Office, a research arm of Congress, has Hatch calling for tax reform.
"I am stunned to learn that our tax law contains 59 different marriage penalties," said Hatch, who is chairman of the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Taxation and Oversight of the Internal Revenue Service. He ordered the study.
"We hear a lot lately about strengthening the family. Yet, few realize that our tax code is riddled with provisions that are punishing taxpayers simply because they are married."
The GAO said that while it found 59 provisions that lead to unequal taxes between those who are married and single, "Generally, large-income differences between spouses can lead to marriage bonuses, while roughly equal incomes can lead to marriage penalties."
For example, it compared the tax-rate schedule on people whose combined income is $60,000 a year and who use the standard deduction.
If a husband and wife both earned $30,000 each, they would pay $8,503 in combined taxes, compared to the $7,160 they would have paid if they were single. That is a "marriage penalty" of $1,343.
However, if a husband earned $60,000 himself and his wife had no earned income, their combined tax would still be $8,503, compared to the $11,980 the husband would have paid if single. That amounts to a "marriage bonus" of $3,477.
The GAO said such tax rates are one of three major provisions affecting differences between married people and singles. The others are the standard deduction and the earned income tax credit.
It said the other 56 provisions it found are not as widely applicable but can be significant for affected taxpayers.
When several of those provisions come into play at the same time, it can especially hurt some families, Hatch said.
For example, he said, they mean a married couple with two children who have a combined income of $28,000 could pay $4,201 more in taxes than if they were single and filing separately.
"Our tax code is creating a powerful financial disincentive for single parents to marry and an incentive for families to break up," Hatch said.
He added, "If our tax code cannot be neutral, it ought to be biased in favor of marriage and families. Congress should consider tax reform now."
Little action on tax reform is expected before Congress adjourns for the year in a month or so. However, both presidential candidates have called for vast reform or tax cuts, if elected.
Republican Bob Dole has called for a 15 percent across-the-board tax cut, lowering taxes on capital gains and for developing a new tax system that is "more flat and fair," which he vows would do away with the IRS as it is now known.
President Clinton has called for a series of more targeted cuts, including a $500-a-year credit for children, greater deductions for college education and abolition of the taxes on profits from selling a home.